Author’s note: I decided to post this particular case because I feel that it answers many questions and addresses some common misconceptions. It also explains to a small degree the type of questions I ask and the way I set up an investigation.
A Warning From The Grave?
Mr. and Mrs. Black and their two sons, Bobby and Tony had been living in the lovely old home for well over a decade. Over the years, an odd thing or two might happen but they were usually dismissed as coincidence. However, events gradually reached a point where they were hard to dismiss as coincidence. There was one door that seemed to open by itself every morning at exactly 4 am. Interestingly enough, Mrs. Black found herself waking up every morning at the same time. Then there was the feeling of being watched. It happened to everyone in the family at some point in time. No one ever felt threatened; it was just the sense that someone or something was watching them.
One day, a radio turned on by itself. Mrs. Black took note of that but she was terribly worried about it. The feeling of a presence was a little unnerving but not terribly frightening. However, towards the end of the third year of activity, things began to intensify. Objects began to disappear. On two occasions, objects disappeared right under the family’s noses. In one incident, Mrs. Black placed an object on the kitchen table and turned to answer the phone. When she turned back, the object was gone. A short time later, her oldest son, Tony, had the feeling that there was the spirit of a young girl in his room. He couldn’t explain why he thought the spirit was a girl; he just seemed to know it.
It was around that time when the shadows started to appear. They were usually indistinct and often traveled from the living room, up the stairs and then stop near the younger boy’s room. What disturbed Mr. and Mrs. Black the most was that they were starting to notice a personality change in the youngest son, Bobby. He was beginning to isolate in his room and was growing less and less communicative when he was out of it. Mrs. Black did not like the signs she was seeing and she was in a position to know since she worked in the psychiatric field. She began to discuss the problem with her closest friend, Gail.
Gail was interested in the odd occurrences taking place in the house. She was a big believer in the supernatural and she felt that the house probably had a ghost that was causing all of the problems. She also felt that what was happening to Bobby was most likely the product of his age; he had just turned 14. Mrs. Black hoped that was all that was wrong with her son. He was a good boy, one who seldom caused any trouble. Even now, there were no disciplinary issues with him; it was just his isolation that was such a concern.
When the shadows continued, Gail offered her friend a religious icon; it was a statue of Padre Pio. Mrs. Black appreciated her friend’s gift and hoped it would help the situation. She placed it on top of her dresser. When her husband came home, she mentioned the statue to him. He too thought it might help. After dinner, he went upstairs to look at it. A short time later, he came downstairs and went into the living room where his wife was watching TV. “Honey, where did you say that statue was?” Not paying much attention, Mrs. Black told him it was on the dresser. “It’s not there now,” her husband told her. “Well, maybe it fell off. I’ll look for it in a little while. I just want to finish watching this program.”
After the show was over, Mrs. Black went upstairs to look for the statue. Her husband had been right; the statue was not on the dresser. Mrs. Black looked around the room but there was no sign of the statue. Now she began to grow concerned. She had read somewhere that disappearance or desecration of religious icons could be a sign of a demonic entity. She immediately voiced those concerns to her husband. “Whoa, I think you are jumping the gun here a little,” he told her. “Maybe one of the boys took it. Hell, even if they didn’t, that hardly means that we have some kind of demon here.” Mrs. Black had to agree with him. She was jumping the gun. Just the same, she decided, she would pay close attention to everything else that happened.
Gail had promised to come over on Friday night. She had an idea she wanted to share with her friend. Mrs. Black began to worry. She knew Gail would ask her about the statue and she did not want to tell her that it had disappeared. By this time, she knew that the boys had not touched it. It had been easy to rule them out because neither boy had been home between the time the statue was brought into the house and then disappeared. Frustrated, Mrs. Black addressed her ghost. ‘Look, I don’t know who you are or what you want but that statue you took does not belong to me. I need to have it back.” After she said her piece, Mrs. Black sat down on her bed. She then laughed to herself. “God, I must look foolish,” she said to herself. “Talking to a ghost! People would think I was nuts.” With that, she left the room.
A short time after dinner, Gail came over. While she sat in the kitchen, Mr. Black went upstairs to get something. When he came back down, Gail and his wife were talking in the kitchen. “Honey, I see you found the statue,” he told his wife. “Find it? I didn’t find it,” she told him. Mr. Black laughed. “Okay, well, it was on the bed when I went into the room.” Mrs. Black did not know what to think. Gail asked what the whole thing as about and Mrs. Black filled her in on the story of the disappearing statue. Gail laughed. “Maybe you should ask them to give you back all of the other things they have taken.” Mrs. Black laughed. “Yeah, maybe I will.”
While they sipped their coffee, Gail made a suggestion. “Look, I brought some incense over. Why don’t we try a smudging?” Mrs. Black was not sure about that but after discussing the idea, they decided to give it a try. They went from room to room with the incense, hoping that would drive the spirit out. Both women were anxious to see what would happen. The rest of the night was uneventful and after Gail left, the Black’s went upstairs to go to bed.
Suddenly, Mrs. Black awoke with a start. She did not need to look at the time; she knew it was 4 am. She got out of bed and went downstairs to see if the door was open. She was not surprised when she saw that it was. After closing it, she went into the living room and sat down on the couch. After a few minutes, she had the feeling that someone was in the room with her. Unnerved buy the feeling, she looked around. The room appeared empty but she knew better. She began to shiver when she saw the shadow by the stairs. She watched silently as the shadow ascended the stairs. With that, the sense of the presence left. Feeling frightened now, she went upstairs after it. When she reached the top of the landing, she saw that shadow outside Bobby’s room. “What do you want?” she called out. The shadow moved, as if it heard her. Slowly, it faded away. Mrs. Black did not even try to go back to sleep.
Over the next few weeks, nothing overt took place. There was the occasional shadow but little else. Tony did report something odd. He told his mother that he felt drawn to the attic. He went up there several times, just to look around. He explained to his parent’s that he felt that something was under the floorboards. However, no one felt like tearing them up. A few days later, Tony was once again drawn to the attic. He stood up there, looking at the floorboards. Suddenly, he felt what he described as a feeling of “electrical static” on his arms. Needless to say, he quickly exited the attic.
Things remained quiet for a few months. The only concern the Black’s had was with Bobby, who continued to isolate in his room. Mrs. Black was nearing the point of trying to get him some counseling. They talked about it a few times and needless to say, Bobby did not like the idea. In fact, he wanted no part of it. Then slowly, things began heating up. The shadows were appearing more often and they were spending more time near Bobby’s door. They almost seemed insistent. Mrs. Black was growing more concerned by the day. She was looking forward to a visit with Gail that had been set up for the following evening. Gail told her that she had another idea and Mrs. Black was more than willing to listen to it.
When Gail came over the following night, Mrs. Black made some coffee and the two women went into the living room to talk. Both boys were out with their father so she had the house to herself. “So Gail,” she began. “What idea do you have?” Gail smiled at her friend. “Listen, I just finished taking these classes on the supernatural that were given by these two guys who investigate haunted houses and try to stop the hauntings. They really seemed to know what they were talking about and they have a lot of experience too.” Mrs. Black was not sure about this. “Gail, I don’t know? Do you think they would help us?” Gail thought for a moment before answering her friend. “Well, they probably can’t guarantee anything but I am sure they would be willing to try.” Gail sat silently for a few seconds. She wanted help; she needed help. Still, she was uncertain. “What if they’re kooks? Even if they are not, they are probably too busy to help us.” Gail jumped in right away. “You won’t know unless you ask. C’mon, what have you got to lose? And believe me, I don’t think they are kooks.”
Mrs. Black thought it over. “I’ll have to talk to the hubby first. How much do they charge, I wonder? I don’t mind paying for help but we aren’t exactly rich here and I have heard of some serious scams in my day.” Gail laughed. “That’s the best part; they don’t charge for their services.” Mrs. Black could not believe that. “They have to charge something. How else could they do this stuff?” Gail wasted no time answering. “They work regular jobs like everybody else but this seems to be their passion. Hey, you can always throw them out if they don’t work out.” Mrs. Black laughed. “I guess that’s true enough. How do I get I touch with them?” Without saying a word, Gail handed her friend a business card. Thus began my involvement in the case.
The first thing that struck me when I arrived at the house with my then partner, Chris, was how old and lovely the house was. I love old things, especially houses. This one was old and it was lovely. It was also very well kept. As soon as I entered the house, I got a good feeling from it. I am not the most psychic person in the world but I can often get a read on a house. This one felt active but it also felt good. As impressed as I was with the house, I was even more impressed with Mr. and Mrs. Black. They were two very nice people. They were friendly, polite and most importantly, they were grounded. Going on a case can be interesting, to say the least. You never quite know what you are going to find. Some people sound rational on the phone but as soon as you walk into their house, you begin looking for alternate exits in case you need to make a quick getaway.
In this business, you meet all kinds. Most are nice, almost all are scared and some are flat out scary. I was once asked to sit in a house alone while the owner ran some errands. That was fine with me because it gave me the chance to “listen” to the house. However, what I did not know was that when the owner went out, he padlocked me in. Had I know that, he would have been missing a window when he returned. Fortunately for him, I discovered this little fact just as he was unlocking the front door. Needless to say, it was a one-day investigation. No, he was not haunted, at least not by spirits. Enough said.
However, in this case, it was immediately clear that we were dealing with a well-balanced couple. It was a warm night so we decided to sit on the patio while we drank our coffee. Mr. Black was a quiet man by nature while Mrs. Black was more outgoing. Chris was himself an outgoing person while I tend to be on the quiet side. This worked out perfectly. Chris talked to Mr. Black and I talked to Mrs. Black. Having each of us interviewing personalities opposite to ours had been effective in the past. It was this night also. During our interview, which I treat informally, several interesting points came up.
The Black’s wondered if spirits ever followed us after working cases. We answered them honestly. Yes, from time to time, we are indeed followed. It comes with the turf as any caseworker can tell you. Paranormal activity is not a 24/7 thing in my house but from time to time, some really interesting things do happen. This brought up a concern on the Black’s part. Could something that was following us latch on to them? Again, we were truthful. No, I explained. It has never happened. For that matter, they don’t stay with us for too long either.
Having gotten that out of the way, Mrs. Black had another good question. Would we, as Catholics, be able to help them with spirits when they were of the Jewish faith. I get asked that question often by people of different faiths. What I always tell them is that in 90 plus % of hauntings, you are dealing with human spirits; ghosts. Religion does not enter the picture unless the spirits are evil. Even then, if they are human spirits, the religion does not matter. There is one God. I will leave all the arguments to the theologians to fight. They are not all that busy, anyway. When you deal with that very small percentage where there are demonic spirits at work, (and most caseworkers never encounter them) then I will resort to what I know works. I always tell the person to pray in the way they are most comfortable. However, when the defecation hits the rotary oscillator, I am going to do what I know works for me. That is not to say that their prayers are lesser than mine; that would be an outrageously arrogant thing to say. All I am saying is that I will do what has proven over the years to work for me. I also advocate using holy water and no one from any faith has ever turned an offer down. Also, I have had people from many different faiths acknowledge that it works for them too. The ramifications of that, I leave to the under worked theologians to discuss.
Another fear they had, and it is a legit one, was whether there would be any publicity about what we were doing there. Many people have that fear and for good reason. The last thing I ever want on an investigation is publicity. It flat out never helps. Any caseworker that wants publicity on a case is trying to make a name for himself, in my opinion. First of all, the victims of the haunting face immediate ridicule. Friends and coworkers may turn on them, they become the butt of jokes and it causes a terrible amount of mental strain and with a haunting, believe me, they have all the mental strain they can handle. Then you have the vultures; they human vultures, that is.
They come in three varieties. The first are the press vultures. They will hound a family unmercifully. They can expect phone calls at all hours of the night. They can expect them to follow the family around. They will hang out at the kid’s school and when they don’t get what they want, they will write horrible things about the family. Next, you have the gawkers. These are the idiots that will camp out on the family’s lawn, hoping to see a ghost. They will drive past the house fifty times a night. Some have even walked right into people’s homes. They are merciless. Finally, you have all of the people that some politician, in his infinite stupidity, had released from mental institutions against the advice of doctors for the sake of putting them in neighborhood based, outpatient programs that are not suited for them and that cannot handle them, all in the name of votes. In other words, every neighborhood nut job will be at the family’s door and at all hours of the night. Some will want to conduct séances; others will claim they can rid the house of the devil. All will disrupt the lives of the victims. No, nothing good ever comes from publicity. They Black’s were quite right when they feared publicity. Sadly, there are a few caseworkers out there that always seem to have reporters show up wherever they happen to be.
Once the Black’s were assured that there would be no publicity, we settled down for the interview. Right away, I learned several interesting things. For openers, I learned that the house was just over 200 years old. I also learned that two occupants had died in the house and that they, along with a few others over the years, had been waked in the house. In fact, they referred to their living room as the “coffin room.” Of course, this is to be expected in any house that old. At one time, it was common practice to have the wake in the house. It has some advantages, to be honest about it.
We talked for quite some time. Finally, we set up some equipment. I got low baseline readings on the EMF meter in the coffin room. Those readings rose considerably on the stairs but we ruled them out because on the other side of the wall was the kitchen and specifically, a microwave. They are notorious for high electromagnetic readings, even when they are off. All of the other equipment readings were unremarkable. Upstairs, I got a high baseline reading outside Bobby’s room but in his room, the readings were negligible. We went back downstairs for a short time. However, the EMF meter started to register high readings. After a few seconds, they began to lower but as I moved towards the stairs, the readings shot up again. It was obvious that whatever was causing the disturbance was moving. We followed it upstairs but the meter dropped back to zero outside Bobby’s room. That was odd since just a few minutes earlier; we had picked up high readings in that spot. As I approached the attic, the machine came to life again. We went up to the attic and the readings stayed high. When I leaned over near the floor, the machine readings shot up. Mr. Black reminded me that Tony felt that something was under the floorboards. Mr. Black and I looked at each other and he smiled. “Do you want to pull them up?” he asked me. I just smiled and within a minute, we had pulled up the floorboards. However, there was nothing there.
We did find one odd thing. When I put the EMF meter near the live electrical wires, the reading was minimal. However, when I placed it near wires that were attached to nothing, the meter jumped up again. Having a miserable sense of direction, I asked Mr. Black which room was under that spot. He told me that was Bobby’s room. That caught my attention. We went down the attic stairs and entered Bobby’s room. The readings were all low until I reached a built in bookshelf. I placed the meter on each shelf and one shelf read much higher than the others. I asked Mr. Black if I could take the books down. Needless to say, he let me. After all, if he let me tear up his attic, I knew he would let me take books off the shelf.
I had half of them down when I noticed a book behind some others. I took a look at it and was surprised to find that it was a spell book. When I picked up the book, the EMF meter went nuts. Chris and I carefully looked the book over. Some of the rituals were quite elaborate. The first thing I looked at was the spine of the book. It was barely creased. That was a good sign. A better sign was that there was a bookmarker in it and it was in the “Introduction” section. That led me to believe that no spells had been tried. That was a relief. At the Black’s request, we took the book and sent it to book heaven. We then instructed the Black’s to watch carefully over the next few days for any signs that the spirit or spirits were still operating in the house. We left there with our fingers crossed.
I called the Black’s about a week later and was pleased to hear that the activity had stopped. I kept in touch with them for about six months. Things remained peaceful in the home. I told them to call me if anything else happened. So far, it hasn’t. Was this a case where someone from the other side was trying to warn the Black’s about the spell book? There is no way to be sure but all indications are that someone was trying to send a message. That is as good an explanation as any. The important thing is that the condition was corrected before it became a big problem.
© 2003 T. Cooney